State of Origin: Queensland level series with New South Wales win

  • Published
Queensland celebrate Darius Boyd's try

Darius Boyd's brace ensured Queensland thrashed New South Wales and levelled the 2013 Origin series going into the final game in Sydney on 17 July.

Having lost at Sydney's ANZ Stadium in the opening game, scores from Sam Thaiday, Boyd and Greg Inglis sealed victory on their Brisbane home turf.

Jonathan Thurston kicked four goals to boost the Maroons tally.

Blues, who replied through Brett Morris's score, need to win the decider to end a seven-year losing streak.

Mal Meninga's Queensland arguably lost the first match in Sydney during an inspired Blues first 40, and their victory was built on similar pressure.

Roared on by a near-52,000 crowd at Suncorp, the hosts started at pace and after NSW coughed up a penalty for a ball-steal in the tackle, the Maroons took full advantage.

Clever hands from Cameron Smith and Thurston worked the ball to Brisbane Broncos skipper Sam Thaiday to power over in the second minute.

The home side continued to dominate, winning a penalty close to the Blues line which Thurston knocked over for two, although his kick cannoned off a post on its way through.

Smart kicking from Smith continued to pin NSW inside their own half, and the pressure told when Thurston slipped Boyd in on the left for a second Queensland try which the stand-off converted.

Mal Meninga's side went in 14-0 up at the break and were on the front foot again at the beginning of the second half.

First they forced a drop-out from which a fizzing cut-out ball from Thurston found Boyd to streak in for his second of the game.

Mitchell Pearce and Billy Slater clashed, with the former emerging with a bloodied face and the latter placed on report, and the rivalry sparked up again moments later after a push at a NSW play-the-ball.

Referee Shane Hayne sent Maroons duo Justin Hodges and Brent Tate and Blues' pair of Trent Merrin and Greg Bird to the sin-bin for 10 minutes for their part in the brawl, and with the quartet off the field, Queensland extended their lead.

Another towering kick went out to the left from Cronk, and Greg Inglis - on his 20th Origin appearance - gathered the ball before darting in to score, Thurston again tagging on the extras.

Blues did eventually add their name to the scoresheet when Morris chased down a Robbie Farah kick to score, and James Maloney popped the ball between the posts for the additional two, but the Maroons added a further two points from Thurston's late kick to equal the series and set up a winner-takes-all 80 minutes in Sydney next month.

LINE-UPS

Queensland: Slater; Boyd, Inglis, Hodges, Tate; Thurston, Cronk; Scott, Smith, Myles, McQueen, Thaiday, Parker.

Replacements: Cherry-Evans, Shillington, Gillett, Papalii.

New South Wales: Dugan; B. Morris, Jennings, J. Morris, Merritt; Maloney, Pearce; Gallen, Farah, Woods, Hoffman, Lewis, Bird.

Replacements: Fifita, Merrin, Reynolds, Watmough.

Attendance: 51.690

Referee: Shane Hayne (NRL)

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.